


Soft as Silk

by FaeOfStars



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (actually just realizing it), Established Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 05:33:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18564940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaeOfStars/pseuds/FaeOfStars
Summary: Keith never realized when it happened, but he is glad it did.





	Soft as Silk

Keith Kogane is the very antonym of _soft_.

Or, at least, he _was_.

It's a process that anyone who has worked with clay would know. When you first get a block of clay, it's unrelenting, almost immutable. It's extremely difficult to work with. Most of what you'll notice is the frustration and the lingering pain in your fingers as you try to do anything with it.

Keith was like that in some regards. Stubborn to a fault, once he made up his mind, there was no going back. Keith always had to finish whatever he started. He was ruthless, unforgiving, and quite honestly, a total pain in the ass. He often had no regard for others. If he knew what he had to do, what did other people matter anyways?

Clay is a medium not suited for everyone. Not everybody has the patience for it. But once you can get past its initial form, it can create masterpieces. It takes time for it to soften up, to be able to take new forms and mold into beauty. It's a laborious process, taking the time to transform the clay from rigid to soft. Yet, if you've ever worked with clay, you may realize that you don't always notice when it begins to soften up. You just notice that it's no longer as stiff as it used to be. 

Like clay, Keith never noticed when exactly he did begin to soften up. No, he could only ever remember a moment when he realized that he was, in fact, much softer now.

He had his head buried in Matt's chest and his arms around his waist, while Matt's arm were draped over Keith's shoulders. Their two bodies gently swayed back and forth in their embrace. As Matt talked about how long it'd been ~~\--~~   _holy shit_ , had it been some time ~~\--~~  that's when Keith had his revelation. This feeling inside him became so much more apparent. The warmth, the comfort, the ease and peacefulness of it all... this wasn't a usual feeling he had. He lifted his head just enough to gaze into Matt's shimmering brown eyes. When did this happen? When did Matthew Fucking Holt make him so soft?

He couldn't pinpoint when Matt had started kneading him like clay, removing the harshness out of him. Was it back at the Garrison when he first had someone he could consider a friend rather than a rival or mentor? Was it when he snapped at Pidge for attempting to leave Voltron to find Matt, which forced Keith to realize that there was a hole in him that Matt once filled and he wanted him back as much as she did (although he'd never admit that to anybody)? Was it when he was fully prepared to sacrifice himself for the sake of the mission and part of him was glad it was Matt who was there to be the one to hear what would be his last words? Was it back on Earth, after the dust had settled and they had the time to figure out their feelings?

Keith had no idea. All he knew was that he had trust and empathy in people, dreams for the future, and a place to belong, none of which he had before. It wasn't just Matt, of course, but he'd be an idiot to deny that Matt was the largest influence. In that moment, Keith knew that at some point, it didn't really matter when, Matt had worked out all the roughness in him. He was now just... soft. Keith being soft? It sounded ridiculous, even to him, but that was just the reality of it now.

"What?" Matt asked, obviously seeing that Keith was absolutely lost in his thoughts.

A smile grew on Keith's face. Okay, yeah, he has definitely softened up; he used to rarely smile. "Oh, nothing."

"Are you sure it's nothing?" Matt sneered.

Keith leaned up on his toes enough to plant a small kiss on Matt's lips. "Absolutely nothing."

Matt only responded by matching Keith's smile and shaking his head ever so slightly.

Matt softened him up. He could see that plain as day now. And if he was soft now, what masterpiece would he become in the future? He'd have to wait and see. And if Matt is the one by his side, it would no question be a future he'd look forward to and cherish.


End file.
